Unusual Tactics
by hombaroo225
Summary: It's just another normal year at Hogwarts...that is, until Ryou shows up. With him comes adventure, danger, and mystery. What will happen to the wizards? To Ryou? FIND OUT! DUN DUN DUUNN! :3 Rating may change later on.
1. Chapter 1

Unusual Tactics

"Harry!"

'_Huh?_' Harry turned to see Hermoine running up to him, breathless.

"You have to come see this! It's amazing!" Hermoine said, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him up off his seat.

"Huh? What is it?" Harry said as Hermoine began pulling him out of the great hall, his spoon still hanging out of his mouth.

"No time! Let's go!" With that, she began pulling him up the stairs towards the unused girl's bathroom, running quickly so that Harry had to struggle not to trip.

When they reached the girls' bathroom, a scent of lilac and irises filled the air, making the atmosphere almost pleasant, if not for the large bubbling cauldron sitting in the middle of the floor.

" Hey, Ron."

"Hey, Harry."

"I was bored this morning, so I decided to test some potions. I thought it would be safest to do it in here. After mixing together some unusual ingredients, I got this." Hermoine waved her hand over the cauldron, stirring the steaming purple goo carefully.

"What is it?" Harry asked, crinkling his nose slightly at the sight of the potion.

"I don't know, really, but it feels almost…powerful. Like it's going to do something amazing."

"Should we test it?" Harry asked, prodding the top of the potion with the large wooden stirring spoon.

"I don't know, really. I'm not entirely sure what it could be used for. I meant for it to be a potion that would help make apparition a bit easier, but I haven't tested it yet. I want to make sure it's safe before anyone tries to use it." Hermoine said nervously, pacing around the length of the abandoned bathroom.

"Uh, 'Moine? You might wanna come take a look at this…" Ron said nervously, stepping slowly away from the cauldron as the potion began to boil and pop.

"Huh?" Hermoine walked over and studied the potion carefully, taking out her wand as Ron and Harry did the same. "I don't think it's supposed to do that…"

Hermoine gasped loudly as the purple goo began to crackle, small bolts of electricity dancing along the brim of the cauldron. She stepped back, letting Ron and Harry step forward a bit, wands at the ready in case of anything dangerous.

A loud bang resonated throughout the room, shocking the three wizards, as they looked toward the bubbling cauldron apprehensively.

Suddenly a hand shot out of the bubbling goo, gripping the side of the cauldron tightly, before another hand followed. The three stepped back, Harry and Ron pointing their wands at the mysterious appearance, ready to fire off a spell if necessary.

The potion began to bubble more, crackling louder and louder until there was a loud POP! The three wizards instinctively covered their faces, waiting a moment before lowering their arms. When they lowered their arms, what they saw shocked them.

There was a person leaning over the side of the cauldron, coughing violently, purple goo dripping down his or her arms and hair onto the floor.

Harry stepped forward cautiously, wand pointed at the stranger, taking slow steps.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked carefully, not wanting to scare the person.

The stranger moaned, and rolled over, pulling his or her legs out of the cauldron and stepping onto the cold tile, shaking slightly.

Harry could now see that the stranger was a boy, with long white hair that covered his face, and creamy white skin. Harry stepped forward slightly, wanting to make sure that the boy was okay.

"Hey, you okay?" Harry asked again, wand still at his side in case the boy turned out to be dangerous.

"Mhmm." The boy answered softly, lifting his head and pushing his goo covered bangs out of his face.

Harry could now see that the boy had big brown eyes, the color of melted chocolate, even, and that he had large bags under his eyes, signaling that he hadn't slept for a while.

"I-I'm fine, thank you. W-where am I?" They boy asked, looking around. He was shaking visibly, obviously chilled.

"You're at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Who are you?" Harry asked curiously.

'_A wizarding school? That's unusual…'_

"My name is Ryou. Ryou Bakura. I'm from Japan. But how on earth did I get here?" Ryou asked, looking to Ron and Hermoine, big brown eyes studying them carefully.

"Um, that was my fault. I made a potion that was supposed to help with apparition, but it brought you here instead…" Hermoine explained, stepping forward.

"…apparition?" Ryou asked, a confused look on his face.

As Hermoine explained apparition to Ryou, Ron and Harry stood away from them and talked.

"He has white hair…do you think he bleached it?" Ron asked, an odd look on his face as he watched Ryou listen to everything Hermoine said, a look of interest painted on his face.

" I don't know, Ron. It's weird, though. How he just showed up here." Harry said, giving Ryou a cautious look.

"Well we know Hermoine's potion works, now!"

"That is true."

"We should get you to the infirmary, Ryou. You look ill." Hermoine said, placing her hand gently on Ryou's shoulder while looking at him worriedly.

"O-okay. A-ACHOO!" Ryou then followed Hermoine out, shivering violently, as they headed to the Hospital Wing.

When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, Ryou was shaking so much his teeth were chattering. Madam Pomphrey made him change into some dry clothes and then sat him down on a cot, giving him a spoon of pepperup potion to warm him up.

Ron laughed a bit when he saw Ryou go crosseyed from the potion as smoke came out his ears, which earned him a smack on the arm from Hermoine for laughing at a sick person.

As Ryou fell asleep, Madam Pomphrey shooed the three wizards out, telling them that they could visit the next day when Ryou was feeling better.

As they walked down the corridors leading to the Great Hall, they all thought one thing.

'_Well, this ought to be an interesting year.'_

_------_

Well, this is my first story on here, and I'm still getting used to the site and stuff. Comment please!


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Another chapter! Sorry this is so late. I wrote it, and then got lazy and didn't finish typing it. D:

Anywho~ I hope you all like it. Thanks to all the people that faved and commented on the last chapter. You make me feel all fuzzy and happy inside! :D

I don't own any of the characters, sadly.

_-Ryou thoughts-_

_**-Bakura thoughts-**_

_-Sorting Hat thoughts/ spirit talking-  
_

-----------------------------------------------

Unusual Tactics

The next morning when the wizard trio arrived in the Great Hall, they were surprised to see that Ryou was there, eating his breakfast quietly. Everyone else seemed to want to stay away from him because of his appearance.

"May we sit with you?"

Ryou looked up to see Hermoine, Ron, and Harry standing opposite him with curious looks on their faces. He nodded quietly and they sat down, placing food on their plates and began to eat.

"Are you feeling better?" Hermoine asked, a worried look on her face.

"Y-yes, I'm feeling much better now, thank you." Ryou replied, giving a small smile.

"But you're so pale!" Hermoine exclaimed, a concerned tone lacing her voice.

"I'm part albino, so I'm naturally pale. There's nothing to fret over." Ryou just smiled, continuing to sip his tea.

"Well _that _explains a lot." Ron murmured to Harry. Harry nodded in reply, staring at Ryou curiously. The four chatted for a while before Professor McGonagall walked up.

"Mr. Bakura, Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with you in his office."

Ryou nodded and stood up, giving the three wizards a small wave before following McGonagall out of the Hall.

"I wonder what that was all about." Ron said quizzically. Hermoine and Harry just shrugged and continued to eat, but Harry's mind was set on other things.

'_Something's not right about him…'_

--In Dumbledore's office—

"Have a seat, Mr. Bakura." Dumbledore instructed, waving his hand over a chair opposite his desk. Ryou nodded and sat down, looking around the room, amazed.

"Mr. Bakura." Ryou turned to look at Dumbledore as he spoke.

"If you could, tell me about how you arrived here?"

Ryou nodded and began, hands on his knees.

"Well, I was in my kitchen, cooking dinner, when I spilled some water on the floor. I had gone to get a towel to clean up the mess, and when I came back, there was this odd purple goo in the spot where the water had been. I went closer to observe it, and it sucked me in. The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of a girls' bathroom covered in the nasty stuff. "

Ryou of course didn't tell him that Bakura had tried to summon a Shadow creature from the puddle and failed, and had then attempted to send it to the Shadow Realm while Ryou had gone to get a towel. Dumbledore didn't need to know about the Millennium Items just yet. He couldn't risk anyone finding out and trying to use the power for something wrong. He couldn't risk having Bakura being taken away.

"."

Ryou looked up to see Dumbledore watching him.

"How would you like to attend our school, at least until we find a way to send you back home?"

Ryou blinked and looked down, going to Bakura to hear his opinion on the matter.

-_What should we do?-_

**-**_**This is a magic school. I say we stay here and learn what we can of this foreign magic. It could prove useful in the future.-**_

_-Very well. You promise not to kill anyone? Because if you do any harm to anyone, I mean _ANYONE_, and we leave. Got it?-_

_-__**Fine. I promise not to kill anyone.-**_

Dumbledore watched as Ryou seemed to be arguing with himself internally, his expression changing, as if he was thinking too hard.

"?"

Ryou snapped out of his conversation to see Dumbledore looking at him with a questioning look on his face.

"Your answer?" He asked.

"Oh, yes. I would be delighted to attend Hogwarts for the time being." Ryou replied with a smile.

"Wonderful! We should put you in your house, then, so you have somewhere to stay."

With that, Dumbledore stood up and walked over to a shelf where an old hat sat. He picked up the hat and brought it over to Ryou, gently placing it on his head. The old hat covered Ryou's eyes, and made everything dark.

-_Well, what do we have here?-_

Ryou jumped and gave a small shriek at the voice that was suddenly in his head.

_-A gentle heart you have, brave too. Very smart, as well. It also appears that you are not the only one in here.-_

Ryou heard Bakura growl from his soul room, walking in to his own.

-_**Who the hell are you?-**_

_-My my, quite the temper. Very strong, though.-_

_-Y-you won't…-_

_-No, I won't tell anyone of this. You have my word. Now where to put you?-_

The sorting hat glanced back and forth between Ryou and Bakura, and then deciding that Ryou was the one in control of the body, he made his decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Wonderful!" Ryou heard Dumbledore say as the old hat was lifted off his head, restoring his vision.

"I shall send you to town with the Weaslys this weekend. I heard Ronald needs a new wand, so you may go with them to purchase your supplies. Oh, and, how old are you?" Dumbledore said as he returned the sorting hat to it's home.

"I'm 16, but sir, I have no money. How am I to pay for my supplies?" It was true. Ryou left his wallet at home.

"No need to worry. The school will take care of your tuition expenses." Dumbledore reassured him.

"Okay. Thank you very much, Professor." Ryou said, giving a polite bow.

"Very good. Now why don't you head up to Gryffindor tower to meet your fellow house mates? Your bed has already been prepared for you." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

"Yes. Thank you." And with that, Ryou left, making his way up to his new home.

As Ryou left the room, Snape entered, a glare on his face.

"I don't trust him, sir. There's something…not quite right about him."

"I can feel it too, Severus. I want to find out what it is. Keep an eye on him."

"Yes, sir."

With that, Snape left the office, his robes flowing out behind him dramatically. (AN: I couldn't help myself. I had to do the cape reference.)

---

When Ryou finally reached Gryffindor tower, he was out of breath.

-_How on earth do they walk this much everyday?!-_

Ryou could hear Bakura laughing in his soul room and rolled his eyes.

"Password?"

Ryou jumped and looked around before realizing that it was the painting that had spoken.

_-This place amazes me, yet again…-_

He was surprised to see that Bakura had been intrigued as well.

"Password?" Ryou asked nervously.

_-I wasn't aware that there was a password…-_

Luckily, a Gryffindor student walked up and turning to the painting said,

"Plum Pudding."

The painting swung open, letting the student and Ryou in.

When Ryou entered the common room, all eyes turned to look at him. He felt himself blush embarrassedly as he walked over to sit with Harry and Hermoine.

"Oh, Ryou! What are you doing here?" Hermoine asked as he sat down.

"Professor Dumbledore said that I could attend school here until they found me a way to get back home. I was put in Gryffindor house with you guys since I know you." Ryou said cheerily.

_**-Oh, and isn't that fun for all?- **_Ryou heard Bakura growl angrily.

_-Be nice, yami.-_

_**-Whatever. They're staring at you, by the way.-**_

Ryou looked up to see Harry and Hermoine staring at him.

"Ummm, is something wrong?" Ryou asked quietly. Harry and Hermoine turned away, looking as if they had been caught stealing.

_**-It's like they don't think you know they're staring. Good job, Ryou. You got stuck with the less-than-observant bunch.-**_

_-Yami…-_

Ryou sighed outwardly at his Yami's antics and noticed that Ron wasn't there.

"Where's Ron?" He asked curiously, looking around the room.

"Oh, he has prefect duties. He'll be back in a bit, though." Hermoine said, never looking up from her book.

"Oh, okay."

A while later Ron came back and the golden trio had to return to classes. Since Ryou hadn't been assigned any classes or supplies yet, he had to stay in the common room. He decided to read to pass the time, picking up _Hogwarts, a History_, and started to read.

_**-The magic the wizards use is absolutely nothing compared to shadow magic, of course.-**_ Bakura snorted from his soul room.

Ryou paid him no attention and continued to read, completely engrossed in his book.

_-This really is amazing, though. This castle has such an amazing history behind it, and all the wonderful things in the castle are absolutely intriguing.-_

_**-Whatever.-**_

When the golden trio returned from their classes and a trip to the library, it was late in the evening. They found Ryou sitting in one of the large arm chairs in the common room, with his legs hanging off one of the arms. He was reading a _Defense Against The Dark Arts_ book.

_**-Now **_**THIS **_**I like.-**_

Ryou gave a small sigh and shook his head, not noticing the three wizards behind him.

"Hello, Ryou, what are you-"

Ryou fell off his chair, effectively startled, landing head first on the floor. He could hear Bakura laughing in his soul room and groaned, starting to get up.

"Oh, Ryou! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Hermoine asked, helping him up.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's okay. I was just reading the _Defense Against The Dark Arts _book."

"Oh, it's good that you're studying."

"Mhmmm."

Ryou could still hear Bakura laughing in his soul room, and it was starting to piss him off.

_-Oh, shut up you.-_

Bakura snickered, shaking his head.

_**-You were the one who fell. It was funny!-**_

_-Oh, just shut up.-_ Ryou growled before turning to pick up his dropped book.

"Well, I had better be heading off to bed. I'll be rather busy tomorrow." Ryou said with a yawn.

"I'm gonna go ahead and go to bed too. I'm exhausted after today's prefect work." Ron said sleepily.

"Okay. Goodnight you two." Hermoine said as she sat down on one of the arm chairs with another book.

"Goodnight." Ron and Ryou said in unison.

Harry waved to the two as they walked up the stairs, then turned to stare at the fire.

When Ryou reached his bed, the one nearest the window, he found a pair of freshly laundered pajamas laying on the end of the bed. He smiled, slipping them on and then got into bed. He placed his hand gently on the ring that was lying under his clothes, sighing.

_-Goodnight, Yami.-_

_**-Night, hikari. Sleep well. I don't want you tired for tomorrow's trip.-**_

Ryou smiled and sighed, drifting off to sleep.

Yaaaaay! I actually finished it! I hope you all like this chapter, I know it's not very good. I'll try to post another one soon. :3


	3. Chapter 3

Yaaaay! Another chapter! Woo! Sorry it's so late. I hope you like it!

I don't own any of the characters, sadly.

* * *

Unusual Tactics

Ryou woke up the next morning feeling well rested and excited. It was the day that he would go with the Weaslys to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies. He dressed quickly and ran into the common room, meeting up with Harry and Ron. Hermoine had gone to the library to study.

"Alright, let's go get something to eat! I'm starving!" Ron whined as they walked out of the common room.

Once they had eaten, Ron, Harry, and Ryou headed back to the common room so they could floo to the Burrow.

"We're going to flu there?" Ryou asked, confused.

"No, not 'flu', we're going to floo." Harry explained, still leaving Ryou completely lost.

"Watch." Ron said, stepping into the fireplace and yelling "Diagon Alley!" before he threw down the floo powder and disappeared in a gust of green flames. Ryou stepped back a bit from the fireplace, feeling nervous.

_-I don't know about this…-_

_**-Oh, come on. It doesn't look that hard.-**_

_-…-_

Harry then stepped into the fireplace and yelled the destination before disappearing in a gust of green flames. Ryou hesitantly stepped up to the fireplace, his hand full of floo powder.

"D-Diagon Alley!" He yelled before disappearing. When he was travelling through the floo portal, he felt like he was flying at one hundred miles per hour. After a few seconds, he tumbled out of a fireplace in a dark shop. It was a scary looking place, full of cursed objects and odd bits of things he wasn't quite sure knew the purpose of.

Bakura took over and decided to look around the shop. It was an interesting place for him. He found a magic set of pick locks, which he pocketed, using shadow magic to negate the thief prevention curse placed on it. He was looking at a knife that was imbedded with magic crystals that were supposed to give you a shield of shadows in the dark when he heard a thump from the back room. He immediately dropped the knife and ran out of the shop, running into an alley before slowing his pace. He returned the control to Ryou and let him catch his breath. Looking around, Ryou saw that there were a lot of witches staring at him with dangerous looks in his eyes. He started feeling nervous and decided to leave, turning to his right and walking briskly. Up ahead, a few wizards stepped into the middle of the path, blocking his way out. He started to panic, terrified.

-_What am I going to do, yami? I don't have any way of defending myself!-_

_**-Don't worry, Hikari. I won't let them touch you. If they dare do anything to harm you, they all go to the shadow realm.-**_

The wizards walked closer and Bakura took control. He started growling menacingly, warning the wizards to come no further, but they continued to walk nearer.

"Back off, all of you! He's with me."

Bakura looked up to see a young boy, around Ryou's age, with slicked back blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Bakura walked closer, letting Ryou have control.

"T-thank you." Ryou said shakily, still a bit scared.

"Someone like you shouldn't be walking around in there. It's not a good place for cowards."

Ryou could hear Bakura growling from his soul room, but ignored him, nodding.

"I'm Ryou. Thank you for helping me, mister…"

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. You're new around here, aren't you?" Malfoy asked, not looking at Ryou.

"Yes, I'm new here. I'll be attending Hogwarts for a while." Ryou felt someone touch his coat pocket and jumped, latching onto Draco's arm. Draco stared down at him, confused.

'_Wow, he must've really been scared. Pff, he's not very brave, then.'_

"S-sorry. That startled me." Ryou apologized, letting go of Draco's arm and lowering his head, embarrassed.

"Whatever. Just don't do it again."

Ryou nodded, and then realized something. He was supposed to meet up with the Weaslys! He muttered a curse under his breath, causing Draco to look at him, curious.

" I just remembered that I was supposed to meet someone. Do you know where Madam Malkin's is?"

Draco nodded and started walking, Ryou following behind him closely. Once they reached the robes shop, the two walked in. Draco stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who Ryou was supposed to be meeting.

In the shop, getting their robes repaired, where the Weaslys and Harry Potter. Draco scowled when his eyes met Harry's.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry asked, glaring at the blond.

" He was helping me, Harry. I got lost when I got here, and he helped me find my way here." Ryou answered for him, not wanting to have them fight.

Harry just scowled, looking away, instead turning back to his book. Ron just stared, open mouthed, not able to believe that Draco had actually helped someone, let alone a Gryffindor.

"Thank you very much for helping me, Draco. I'm very grateful." Ryou said, giving a small bow out of habit. This made Draco blush and look away, obviously embarrassed a little.

'_Wow, he's actually kinda cute…oh my God, did I just think that?! I don't like guys!'_

"No problem. See you at school." Draco said quietly, turning to leave.

Ryou smiled a bit and went over to get his robe measurements. As Madam Malkin took his measurements, Ron and Harry questioned him.

" Why were you with him?" Ron asked confusedly.

" I ended up in this dark alley when I came out of the floo network, and I got surrounded by wizards. Draco helped me out and also helped me find my way here." Ryou said, smiling a bit.

"But it's Malfoy! He's never nice to anyone!" Harry exclaimed, completely confused as to why Malfoy decided to help anyone.

"He's very nice, Harry. He helped me and I'm grateful for it." Ryou said with a huff, signaling the end of the topic. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Harry put his hand on his shoulder, shutting him up before he could say anything.

After getting Ryou's robes and books, they headed over to Ollivander's so he could get his wand. When they reached the store, Ryou looked around before a flying measuring tape hit him square in the face, earning a snort from Bakura.

"Hold out your wand arm, please." Ryou held up his right arm, slightly confused. When the tape measure finished measuring his arm, an old man, Ollivander, Ryou guessed, handed him a wand.

"Give it a wave." He said, curious looking. Ryou waved it and the lamp on the front desk shattered, startling Ryou.

"No, not that one…" He handed another wand to Ryou, but before he could wave it, it was snatched out of his hands and replaced with another one. This continued for another 35 wands before Ollivander finally found a wand and handed it to Ryou.

"I wonder…" Ryou took the wand and felt a chill run through his spine. Bakura felt it too. He waved it and purple smoke wafted from the tip, taking the form of Diabound before fading into blue sparks.

" Cherry wood, papyrus wood core, 11 inches, flexible. Interesting." Ryou held the wand in his hands as if it was a priceless artifact, staring at the intricate designs on the base of the wand.

After they had paid for the wand, they headed over to the Magical Menagerie to get Ryou's owl. When they entered the shop, a smile crossed Ryou's face as he looked around the shop.

_-What should I get, yami?-_

_-__**A snake. Definitely. Wait…-**_

Bakura took control of the body and walked over to a cage where there were some sleeping kittens. The one in the middle stood out quite a bit, with its bright orange fur and stripes.

-_It kinda looks like a…-_

"Tiger." Bakura finished, picking up the small tiger cub and holding it in his arms. The cub opened its eyes and looked up at Bakura, swatting his long hair with her paws playfully.

"I'll call her Sekhmet." Bakura said as he walked over to the counter to pay for Ryou's owl, Horus, and also for his new pet.

"You bought a _tiger?_" Ron asked incredulously as Ryou gained control once more, rubbing Sekhmet's stomach softly.

"Yes, I thought it would be good." Ryou replied, though he was a little worried about when she grew up. Ron just looked at him like he was crazy and continued walking.

Ryou would have to catch up to everyone else by studying hard. It would take a while, but he had already started on his own the day before and when he was sick because he had nothing to do and he didn't have his deck.

-_I'll have to send a letter to Yugi to ask him if he can send it to me…-_

_**-He'd better.-**_

Ryou rolled his eyes and sighed mentally, stroking Sekhmet's fur calmly. He and Harry would be spending the night at the Weasly's house that night, and he was already feeling tired.

"Ryou dear, dinner!" Mrs. Weasly called from downstairs.

Ryou sighed and picked Sekhmet up, walking down the stairs. When he reached the kitchen, he sat down on the bench at the end of the table.

"Is that-"

"A tiger?"

Ryou looked up to see a set of twins, obviously Ron's brothers, staring at him intently.

"And what's with-"

"The hair? Did you-"

"Dye it?"

Ryou looked back and forth between the two, slightly confused.

"Um, yes, it's a tiger, and no, it's natural." He said, answering both their questions.

"Oh." They both answered.

"I'm Fred-"

"And I'm George. Or maybe-"

"I'm George and-"

"I'm Fred."

Ryou was now completely confused. apparently noticed because she wacked them both on the head with her wand.

"Don't confuse the poor boy, now Fred, George. He'll be staying with us tonight."

"Alright, mum. Hey, didn't we see you-"

"At breakfast?" The two asked.

Ryou nodded, saying, "Yes, I'll be staying in Gryffindor from now on. Nice to meet you, I'm Ryou Bakura." He held out his free hand, shaking both of the twins' hands.

"Sit down, you two. It's time for dinner." Mrs. Weasley warned sternly, setting the food on the table. Ryou ate a full dinner, making sure to give his meat to Sekhmet. After dinner was over and everyone was full to capacity, Ryou decided to head up to his room to go to bed. He was exhausted after the long day.

When he reached his room, he donned his pajamas and crawled into bed, already half asleep. He vaguely felt Sekhmet crawl onto the bed with him, snuggling against his chest and purring.

-_Tomorrow starts a new adventure. I hope I'm ready…-_ Ryou thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I'm sorry this one's late, but I had writer's block! D8

And yeah, there's gonna be shipping in this.

Ryou/Bakura and MAYBE Ryou/Draco.

Tell me what you think, please! Comments make me happy! :D

-Khriss :3


	4. Chapter 4

Yaay! New chapter! I really hope that this isn't too bad, because I wrote it at like, four in the morning. I was sleep deprived and hallucinating, too, swatting at nonexistent feathers. I need help…

Anywho~ I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's the longest one so far! Comments are nice, please, so R&R!

_**-Bakura spirit talking-**_

_-Ryou spirit talking/ thinking-_

'_Normal character thinking'_

"Talking"

**I do not own any of the characters in this story, just the concept. **

Unusual Tactics

The next morning, Ryou was so excited about school that he woke up extra early, six in the morning to be precise, and decided to go downstairs. He walked into the kitchen, Sekhmet at his heels, and saw Mrs. Weasly making breakfast. She didn't notice him there until he walked over to the counter and started mixing a batch of porridge.

"Oh, good morning, Ryou! What has you up so early?" She said, not stopping her cooking.

"I was a bit too excited about school to sleep, so I decided to get out of bed." Ryou replied, smiling politely.

"Good morning, dear. Oh! Who might this be?" Arthur Weasly said as he walked into the kitchen, stopping to give his wife a kiss before looking Ryou over.

"I'm Ryou Bakura. I'll be attending Hogwarts for the first time this year. Nice to meet you." Ryou said, shaking Arthur's hand.

"Interesting…" Arthur mumbled to himself before sitting down with the newspaper.

"Ryou dear, would you terribly mind going to wake up the kids?" Molly asked, not looking up from her washing.

"Sure." With that he left the kitchen, walking up the stairs to the twins' and Ron's room, the first one, and knocking.

"Time to wake up, you three." Ryou could hear mumbling and rustling from behind the door and moved on to the next one, repeating the process.

"Harry, time to get up." Ryou said. When he didn't hear anything, he decided to go in and wake him up himself.

"Harry, time to get up." He repeated. He went over to the bed and pulled back the curtains, but he saw that Harry was obviously having a nightmare.

"Harry? Harry. Harry!" Ryou said, shaking Harry in an attempt to wake him from his nightmare.

--Harry's Nightmare—

_Harry looked around the room. There wasn't much in the small living room besides a bookshelf and what looked like a trophy case full of figurines. He walked over to look at the dolls when he heard a scream coming from the back room. He ran down the hall and opened the door, and what he saw shocked him. _

_There on the floor lay Ryou, covered in blood and bruises. Over him stood a man that looked almost exactly like him, though his eyes were sharper and a bloody wine red instead of chocolate brown. He held a bloodied knife in his right hand and a large clump of Ryou's hair in his left. _

"_Please, stop! Bakura! Stop, p-please!" Ryou pleaded, trying desperately to free himself from the rope bindings that rendered his hands and feet immobile. _

_The man called Bakura just laughed, slamming Ryou's head down to the floor with a thud. Ryou let out a cry of pain and whimpered, trying desperately not to cry. _

"_This'll teach you not to talk back to me!" Bakura yelled and began laughing maniacally, slashing Ryou's bare chest with the dagger. Ryou screamed in agony as Bakura continued to stab him brutally. _

_Harry ran forward and tried to grab the albino man's arm, but found his hands went right through Bakura's arm. He looked around, trying to figure out a way to help Ryou. _

"_Harry! Harry!" Ryou screamed, looking right at him. _

"_Harry!"_

_--_End of Nightmare—

"Harry!" Ryou yelled, shaking Harry in a desperate attempt to wake him.

"Aaah!" Harry bolted up in the bed, screaming. He looked around and saw that he was in his room.

"Harry?"

Harry looked over to his left and saw a white blob hovering next to him. He reached over to the bed stand and retrieved his glasses, and put them on. The white blob came into focus and revealed itself to be none other than Ryou, looking at Harry with concern.

"Are you okay?" Ryou asked nervously.

Harry nodded and rolled off the bed, wobbling a bit before walking out of the room, Ryou and Sekhmet following him closely. In the hall, Ron and Hermoine ran up to Harry, looks of worry etched on their faces.

"Harry! Are you okay? Was it another dream?" Hermoine asked, a tone of concern in her voice.

"Yeah, but it was different this time…it wasn't about Voldemort." Ron visibly winced at the mention of the dark wizard's name.

"What was it about then?" Hermoine asked curiously.

Harry said nothing, instead turning to look at Ryou, who was walking down the stairs quietly.

"I'll tell you later."

After breakfast had finished, it was time to leave for Hogwarts. Ryou was terribly excited, and could feel himself shaking out of nervousness.

_**-Calm down, Hikari. It's not like we're going to the moon.-**_

_-I know, but this is still very exciting!-_

They were going to travel by floo again, and all of Ryou's luggage would be sent to Hogwarts through a different mode of transportation. Sekhmet eyed the bright green floo powder warily, walking up and sniffing it, causing her to let out a sneeze. Ryou chuckled and picked her up, rubbing behind her ears, making her purr happily.

"Okay, we must be off. It's getting rather late." Arthur said, walking into the living room in a hurry.

"Fred, you first." He said, handing the bag of floo powder to the first twin. Fred walked into the fireplace, and after shouting the name of the Three Broomsticks pub, he vanished in a flurry of green flames.

George went next, followed by Ron, Hermoine, Ginny, Harry, and Ryou. When Ryou showed up in the fireplace in the pub, he made sure to let go of Sekhmet before he tumbled forward, seeing as the floo traveling sent him flying every time. He tumbled into one of the tables opposite the fireplace, hitting the base with a loud thud. Hermoine ran over to help him up, and he dusted himself off. Sekhmet trotted up to him, mewling worriedly, and he picked her up, stroking her stomach gently to assure her that he was okay.

Shortly after that Arthur arrived, and they began their journey on to Hogwarts.

"Professor McGonagall, would you please go meet Mr. Weasly at the gate?" Dumbledore asked from his desk.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore." McGonagall nodded before leaving to go meet the group of wizards.

'_I'll have to keep an eye on Mr. Bakura. He seems suspicious in a way. There's a dark, ancient magic surrounding him. I wonder what he'll turn out to be like…'_

After about ten minutes of walking, the group reached the gate where McGonagall was waiting.

"I'll take the children from here, Arthur."

"Thank you, Minerva. I'll be on my way now. Have a good time!" Arthur said before disappearing with a pop.

"This way please." At that the group of teenagers followed McGonagall towards the large castle that towered before them. Ryou looked up in awe, staring at the enormous castle as he walked.

As Ryou walked through the gate, he felt a tingling sensation go through him, and he shivered slightly.

-_What was that?-_

_**-It must be the change in magic or something. Maybe a magical shield.-**_

_**-**__Maybe…-_

As the group entered the castle, Ryou looked around, once again admiring the beautiful structures inside the Great Hall. Sekhmet swatted at his hair with her paws, making him chuckle. They all headed up to the Gryffindor common room, chatting as they walked. When they got up to the common room, Ryou headed up to the dormitories and noticed that all his supplies, trunk also, were at the end of his bed. He decided he should get studying, seeing as his classes started the next day.

-_**Study freak.-**_

_-Oh, hush you. I want to be prepared so that I know what I'm doing. I want to make sure I can do my best and not be out of the loop. I hate being uninformed, and you know that.-_

_**-Whatever. Just don't study too hard. I don't want you getting a headache.-**_

_-Since when were you concerned about my health?-_

_**-Shut up and study, hikari.- **_

Ryou rolled his eyes and opened his Transfiguration book, reading thoroughly and taking notes as he went. He studied for hours, skipping dinner, but making sure to ask Ron or Harry to bring back some scraps for Sekhmet.

"He cares about feeding his cat, but not himself? Just so he can read? Wow, he's almost as bad as you, Hermoine." Ron said, earning a glare from Hermoine.

"Oh, shut up Ronald. He's trying to get caught up. He's never even used a wand before, so I'd expect he'd have to do a lot of studying." Hermoine retorted, sitting down on the bench at the large Gryffindor table and placing food on her plate.

"Whatever." Ron said, also beginning to eat.

After dinner was through, Harry brought the small bundle of food up to the dormitory for Ryou, and found he had fallen asleep with his Potions book on his chest. He laid the scraps on the floor for Sekhmet to eat, and then took the book off of Ryou's chest, placing in his trunk.

'_He sure is determined, isn't he.' _

The next day, Ryou awoke with a headache, and saw that it was still dark. He rubbed his head and looked out the window, seeing the sun beginning to peep over the horizon, signaling dawn. He sighed and headed off to the bathroom to take a shower. When he returned, everyone was still sleeping.

-_At this rate they'll all oversleep.-_

Ryou donned his robes, and sensing that the other wizards would not wake up any time soon, walked over to Harry and shook him lightly, trying to wake him.

"Harry, wake up. It's time for school." Ryou said and, seeing Harry turn over, mumbling, shook him harder.

"Harry, wake up. Come on."

Harry finally sat up, rubbing his eyes and reaching for his glasses.

"Whu, Ryou? What are you doing up so early?"

"It's almost time for breakfast, Harry. You'd better get ready or you'll miss it and be late for class as well." Ryou replied as he walked over to his trunk, grabbing his wand and petting Sekhmet before heading down into the common room.

Harry sighed and got out of bed, heading over to Ron and trying to shake him awake.

"Ron, get up. We're gonna be late for breakfast." Harry said with a yawn, still shaking Ron in an effort to wake him.

"Mhmm, five more minutes…" Ron mumbled, swatting Harry's hand away.

"Come on, Ron, get up!" Harry said, shaking Ron harder.

"Fine, fine, I'm up, yeesh." Ron grumbled, pushing Harry away and getting out of bed. \

Ten minutes later, they joined Ryou in the Great Hall for breakfast, but they found that he was spaced out. He was shaking his head slightly, a stern look on his face, as if he was talking to someone.

Ron and Harry looked at each other and continued to watch Ryou amusedly, until Hermoine showed up.

"Good morning boys. Um, is Ryou okay?" Hermoine asked, worried a bit at the fact that Ryou seemed to be talking to himself in his head.

"Dunno, really. He's been doing that for a few minutes now." Ron replied, taking a bite of some jellied toast.

"Umm, Ryou?"

Ryou snapped out of his "conversation" and looked up at Hermoine, flushing slightly with embarrassment.

"Oh, hello. I didn't see you there. Sorry." He apologized, looking down, trying to hide how red his face was. He could hear Bakura chuckling from his soul room and grumbled a bit.

"Um, I think I'll head off to get my books now. See you in class." With that Ryou walked off, his face still red. Harry and Hermoine stared after him, while Ron continued to eat.

"What was that all about?" Hermoine asked, looking at Harry.

"I don't know." Harry frowned and gripped his fork tightly, thinking hard.

'_He was definitely talking to himself, but why? Is he crazy? Or…no, he couldn't be possessed. Could he?'_

The next few classes went well, going on without much commotion. Ryou discovered that he was particularly good at potions. He found it was a lot like cooking. When Snape walked by to check on his potion, Ryou simply continued to stir, occasionally glancing down at his book to make sure he had it right. Snape nodded in approval, and Ryou couldn't help but smile.

After that the class continued on to Care for Magical Creatures class. Ryou was excited, and could sense that Bakura was interested as well. He was curious to see what kind of interesting creatures he would get to learn about.  
"Alright, everyone gather 'round ere. Today we're gonna learn 'bout unicorns." Hagrid said as they walked, earning several excited squeals from the girls in the group.

-_**Unicorns? Really? I thought it would be something, I don't know, dangerous? Not a unicorn.-**_

_-Well I think they're beautiful.-_

_**-Exactly.-**_

_-What's that supposed to mean?-_

_**-It means you're girly.-**_

_-I am not!-_

"Now, there's somethin you should know 'bout unicorns. They only like girls. So boys, don' try ta approach one or you'll get yer hand stabbed." Hagrid warned.

Ryou walked closer to the front of the crowd to try to get a better look at the beautiful creatures. He felt a shove and stumbled forward into the clearing, almost falling but catching himself at the last second. When he looked up he gasped.

There, staring him right in the face, was a unicorn.

He didn't move. He couldn't. He was too scared. The unicorn moved closer, slowly, and Ryou shut his eyes, not moving. The rest of the group watched in silent shock as the unicorn began sniffing Ryou, seemingly interested in him.

The unicorn then decided that it liked Ryou and nudged his head with his snout. Ryou opened his eyes, blinking in surprise, and looked up. The unicorn sniffed his forehead, startling him, but he regained his composure and slowly stood up, making the unicorn step back a bit.

Once Ryou was fully standing, the white horse moved forward slowly, sniffing Ryou's hand as if it wanted him to pet it. Ryou carefully lifted his hand and began to pet beautiful creature, a smile spreading across his face.

-_**Ha! That proves it!-**_

_-Proves what?-_

_**-That your girly!-**_

_-Oh, shut up you.-_

"Well well. Isn't someone quite the little girl."

Ryou and the crowd of wizards turned to look at the source of the snide remark:

Draco Malfoy.

Ryou just stared at him, trying to think of where he'd seen him before. After a second he remembered who he was and smiled.

"I get that a lot. It is rather true. I am a bit feminine, but I don't mind that much. And neither, it seems, do they." Ryou gestured to the other unicorns who were slowly walking over to Malfoy, making him blush rather hard.

"Shoo! Stupid horses. Shoo!" Draco said, walking away from the unicorns, only to have them follow him.

The entire class broke out into laughter, and even Ryou laughed a bit, seeing as the unicorns wouldn't leave the poor boy alone.

After class was through, Ryou looked around, trying to find Malfoy. When he finally spotted him, he ran up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What do you wan- Oh, Bakura." Malfoy said, his expression softening the slightest bit.

"Please, call me Ryou. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." Ryou replied, not sure whether to smile or not.

"I'm fine. And…sorry about what I said earlier." Draco said quietly, not looking directly at Ryou, instead finding the ground much more fascinating.

Ryou's eyes widened in surprise, but it softened into a smile after a second.

"It's okay, I'm used to being called a girl. But thank you."

The two decided to walk to their next class together, chatting lightly along the way.

A little distance away, Harry stood, watching the two as they walked, glaring at their retreating forms.

'_There's something up with Ryou, and I'm going to find out what…"_


	5. Chapter 5

HOLY WAL MART LONG CHAPTER.

Yeah, I really didn't want to end this one, but I thought I should. I hope you all like it and stuff~

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and faved and such!! It makes me very happy to know that people actually like this story!! I'll update soon, so please be patient!

Enjoy!

I do not own any of the characters in this story.

________________

Unusual Tactics

"Everybody line up, please. How about we begin with you, Neville?"

Neville nodded nervously and walked up to the cabinet containing the boggart as Lupin told him. They were in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and were studying boggarts. Ryou stared at the cabinet curiously from the middle of the line, anxious to see what a boggart was exactly.

Ryou let out a small gasp when he saw none other than Professor Snape step out of the cabinet, and wondered why he was in there in the first place. He then remembered Professor Lupin saying that the boggart takes resemblance of your greatest fear. He let out a small chuckle at the fact that Neville's greatest fear was Snape.

"Ridikulus!" (A.N. spelling?)

Ryou watched as the boggart Snape morphed, gaining some of the strangest clothes and hat he had ever seen. He laughed along with everyone else as the line moved forward.

-_Hehe, now whenever I see him I'll think of that.-_

_**-Haha, no kidding! That definitely made my day.-**_

After a few more students went, it was finally Ryou's turn. He was still laughing from the previous student's boggart, and walked up. When the boggart finally transformed, however, he felt his heart stop. His eyes widened in pure terror at the sight set before him.

"No…"

It was Bakura, holding a knife, covered in blood, along with the rest of his body. He had a grin on and was laughing maniacally, getting ever closer to Ryou, who slowly tried to back away. Before he could get away, however, the boggart Bakura grabbed him by his neck and held him above the ground, still laughing.

"Did you think you could escape me, silly Hikari? You'll never be rid of me! Never!" Boggart Bakura let out an evil laugh as he slammed the knife into Ryou's thigh, making him let out a blood curtling scream.

Bakura tried to help Ryou, but something was preventing him from doing so. He banged on his soul room door, trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

_**-Hikari! Hikari! Ryou!-**_

Bakura tried again to open the door, becoming furious at the fact that he couldn't open his own soul room door to help his hikari. He yelled in fury as Ryou screamed, trying once again to open his door so he could get to his choking hikari and stop the boggart.

_**-Dammit! Open, damn door! OPEN!- **_

"Ridikulus!"

The boggart changed into a balloon, zooming around the room as Ryou dropped to the floor, coughing and crying, his leg bleeding heavily. Lupin ran up to him and put his hands on Ryou's shoulders, making him flinch away, still shocked from the boggart experience. The rest of the class merely stared, silent, as Ryou stood up slowly, shrugging off any help, and limped out of the room.

'_I should've stopped it sooner…Why did Professor Dumbledore make me do that?' _Lupin thought as he cleaned up the blood on the floor with a quick spell.

"Okay, class is dismissed for today." Lupin said, walking over to the cabinet containing the boggart and locking it.

Hermoine walked up to Harry and Ron, a shocked look on her face.

"We should go check on him. Did you see how scared he was?" Hermoine said, concern etched into her features.

"Why didn't Lupin stop it?" Ron asked, curious as to why the teacher wouldn't step in when Ryou was being attacked.

Harry merely shrugged as they made their way to the hospital wing to check on the poor albino. When they arrived, however, they found that Ryou was not there.

"Why isn't he here? He was stabbed, for goodness sakes!" Hermoine exclaimed, quite flustered.

"I don't know, 'Moine. We should look for him, though." Harry answered, looking around as they walked. As they walked past the court yard, Harry spotted a fluff of white sitting on a bench near the lake. He motioned to Ron and Hermoine to follow, and they all walked over quietly, not wanting to scare the hurt albino boy. When they reached him, they noticed his eyes were glazed over, as if he was thinking. Hermoine reached out to shake him awake, but Harry stopped her arm before she could touch him. He noticed that Ryou was making several facial expressions, as if he was talking to someone.

_**-Why are you still afraid of me?-**_

Ryou flinched, hearing the anger in Bakura's voice.

_-I-I'm not afraid of you…I'm afraid that you'll go back to what you were before.-_

_**-A bloodthirsty maniac who took pleasure in beating you until you lost consciousness?-**_

Ryou winced again, noticing the rise in irritation in Bakura's tone.

_-…yes, something like that. I'm just scared that…you won't care anymore. You seem to actually care now, and I'm just worried that one day…you won't.-_

Bakura sighed frustratedly and got up off his bed in his soul room, walking into Ryou's.

Ryou let out a soft outward gasp as Bakura walked into his soul room and hugged him gently. Bakura had never shown this kind of affection before. He began gently stroking Ryou's hair, making him return the hug.

_**-Shhh, don't cry, Ryou. I'm not going to change.-**_

Ryou let out a small gasp and pulled back from the hug, looking at Bakura with wide eyes.

_-Did you…just call me Ryou?-_

_**-Well, it is your name, isn't it?**__-_

_-Yes, but I've never heard you say it before!- _Ryou giggled with delight, hugging Bakura tighter.

The spirit let out a frustrated sigh and smiled slightly before standing up and walking away, leaving Ryou smiling goofily on his bed, tears running down his pale cheeks.

The golden trio stared in shock as Ryou began to cry, a smile spreading across his face. He blinked and turned his head, letting out a yelp and falling over the bench when he saw the three wizards.

"Owww…" Ryou groaned, rubbing the back of his head softly where it hit the ground.

"Oh, Ryou! Are you okay? Why aren't you in the hospital wing? Why were you crying?" Hermoine bombarded him with questions as she helped him off the ground, making him hiss when he put pressure on his injured leg.

"Gosh, 'Moine, let him breathe!" Ron said, helping Ryou over to the bench again.

"I-I'm fine. My leg just hurts a bit, is all." Ryou put on a fake smile, trying to hide how bad his leg hurt, and failing.

"We need to get you to the hospital wing, Ryou! You got stabbed! That's serious!" Hermoine exclaimed, walking in circles. Ryou, not wanting to hear any more of it, agreed to go and stood up shakily, Ron and Harry helping him.

When they arrived at the hospital wing, Madam Pomphrey ran to Ryou, telling Ron and Harry to lay him down on one of the beds, seeing as he couldn't move by himself. He had lost a lot of blood and was beginning to fade out of consciousness. Madam Pomphrey quickly healed Ryou's leg and then gave him a potion to help him regain his lost blood.

"My, it's only been three days and you're already back in here. Such a troublesome one, you are." She sighed before going to attend other patients, leaving Ryou to rest.

* * *

"I do hope he'll be okay." Hermoine sighed as the trio walked on to Herbology.

"I think he'll be fine, Hermoine. If he was able to walk around in the courtyard, I'm sure he'll be well enough to come back to class in a few days." Harry replied, shaking his head.

"If you say so…"

"Who do you think his boggart was? It looked just like him, only, well, scary." Ron shuddered at the memory of the terrifying boggart.

"I don't know, but it must be someone he's related to, to have such a close resemblance. And it said that he'd never be rid of him…What do you think, Harry?" Hermoine asked with a thoughtful look on her face.

Harry didn't reply, seeing as he was thinking the same thing. He put his hand under his chin and stared at the grass as he walked, thinking hard.

'_He called Ryou hikari…what does that mean? And why did they look so similar? Could it be that they're related? No, Ryou said he didn't have any relatives, and he doesn't seem like the type to lie about that kind of stuff. Maybe…he is possessed, and that's the spirit or something…maybe.'_

After classes were finished, the three headed up to Gryffindor tower to do their homework before dinner. When they reached the common room, they were surprised to see Ryou sitting in one of the arm chairs, a book in his lap, his hurt leg propped up on the table in the middle of the room.

"Ryou? What are you doing here?" Hermoine asked with a shocked look on her face.

"Hm? Oh, hello. I was feeling better, so I thought I'd come back up here. Oh, and if you see Madam Pomphrey, don't tell her I'm here." Ryou said, a smile on his face.

Ron and Harry chuckled and sat down opposite, Hermoine doing the same, sighing exasperatedly.

"Hey, the Hogsmead trip is coming up soon. Are you going, Ryou?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Huh, Hogsmead? What's that?" Ryou asked curiously.

"It's a yearly thing where 5th years and above can go on a trip to Hogsmead. It's a village just outside the castle. We can go there to shop or just hang out and stuff. It's really fun, actually." Hermoine replied.

_-It sounds like a lot of fun, do you think we should go?-_

_**-I don't see why not. I could always use some new…stuff.-**_

_-Yami…don't even think of stealing anything while we're there.-_

_**-Sure. Whatever you say.-**_

Ryou sighed and looked up to see the three wizards staring at him, yet again.

"Um, I guess I could try to go. Do I have to have permission?"

"Yes, you have to get a form signed so that they'll let you go. You have to get your parents or a legal guardian do sign it. " Hermoine replied, holding out the permission slip for Ryou to look at.

"Okay, I think I'll go! It sounds like a lot of fun!" Ryou said enthusiastically.

* * *

Back in Japan, Seto Kaiba was once again, sitting in his office, working. He was typing away on a report when all of a sudden, he heard a tapping noise. He ignored it at first, but it soon became annoying.

"What the hell is it?" He growled, turning around to face the source of the insufferable tapping noise. When he saw the culprit, his eyes widened in surprise and disbelief.

There was a falcon sitting on his window sill, a letter tied to its leg. Kaiba walked over and opened the window, letting the bird fly in. It landed on his desk, much to his annoyance, and he walked over to see what it had. When he reached the large bird, it lifted it's leg and Kaiba untied the letter.

_Dear Kaiba,_

_Hello, Kaiba, it's Ryou. I know this is sudden, but I was wondering if you would kindly sign the permission form attached to this letter. I'm going on a school trip and need parental consent, but seeing as my father likely wouldn't return it, I was wondering if you could do it for me. I hope I'm not being a bother, but I would really love to go. I do hope you'll sign it and return this as soon as possible. Oh, and I'll explain later. _

_Sincerely yours,_

_Ryou Bakura_

Kaiba reread the letter and looked at the permission sheet before sighing and signing the paper, in English, his curly cursive writing taking up most of the line. He decided to write a small note before tying the letters and the form back on the bird's leg, then sending it off. He didn't know what was up with Ryou, but he knew he would find out.

When the falcon landed in the owlry the next day, Ryou sat up, startled.

_-How did I…I must've fallen asleep or something…-_

Ryou shook his head and stood up, wobbling slightly, before walking slowly over to the falcon. He untied the letter and put the permission slip in his pocket, before reading the note that Kaiba wrote for him.

_You'd better tell me what's going on when you get back. I mean it. A falcon? Really? Why couldn't you just mail it to me like a normal person? _

_Signed,_

_Seto Kaiba_

Ryou chuckled and shook his head slightly before treating the bird and walking away. He decided to go lay down and rest, because he wasn't feeling too well.

"I must've caught a cold or something." He mumbled to himself.

_**-You'd better not be sick, Hikari. I don't want to have to deal with it if you faint in the middle of the street.-**_

Ryou sighed and kept walking, rubbing his head in little circular patterns, trying to ease the tenseness.

"Are you okay, Ryou?"

Ryou winced at the voice, his headache making it ten times louder than it really was.

"I-I'm fine."

"Don't lie, I know you're sick."

Ryou opened his eyes a crack and saw someone he totally didn't expect to be there.

Draco Malfoy was standing in front of Ryou, his face cold and teasing, but his eyes showed concern.

"Draco…I fell asleep in the Owlry, but it's okay. Just a headache." Ryou tried his hardest to put on a fake smile, failing.

"It's only ten degrees out! Come on you, I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing."

Draco took Ryou's hand in his and started walking, but stopped when he felt Ryou tug back.

"No, I just need to rest in bed is all. It's o…"

_**-Ryou!-**_

Draco's eyes widened and he leapt to catch Ryou as he fell.

* * *

Ooooohhh~! Cliffie!! :3

I'll be doing the next chappie soon, maybe even today! So yeah, I'll update soon. :D

RxR Peez!!


	6. Chapter 6

Yaaayyy! New chapter!! And it's only been two days, too! It's loooonnnggg~ I hope you like it!!

Warning! There's random crap in this chapter, but that makes it good.

None of the characters belong to me.

* * *

Unusual Tactics

_Ryou looked around and blinked: He was in school. Domino High School to be precise. He saw all his 'friends' there. They were over in a corner, probably playing Duel Monsters, yet again. He decided to walk over and see what they were doing, so he stood up and began to make his way over to them when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see who's hand it was, and came face to face with none other than Bakura. _

_Wait, what?_

_Bakura took Ryou's hand and lead him over to a desk, and sat him down. Bakura sat down opposite him and pulled out his deck. He placed five cards on the table, like a tarot reading would look. He slowly began to flip over the cards, but Ryou noticed something. _

_The cards were blank._

_What did that mean? He was very confused, but Bakura kept flipping over the blank cards. Finally, one by one, Bakura put his index finger to each of the cards. Slowly, a picture formed on each one. For the past there was a crying clown, which represented a bad childhood. The present was a lone angel, representing his loneliness and seclusion. The card that showed what he desired was a sleeping child, which represented peace and tranquility. And finally, his future card. It was a half demon half angel, kind of like Change Of Heart, and it represented balance and drastic change. It also represented chaos and peace following after. _

_Ryou stared at the card for a while before he felt Bakura's hand on his arm, pulling him up. He stared down at his feet for a second before realizing something._

_Bakura wasn't wearing pants._

_Ryou looked up at Bakura, confused, and saw than he had a cat on his head. He was talking to the cat like it was a person, going on about shoes and pudding. _

_That was it. Ryou was officially very lost. _

_He felt something on his shoulder and turned to see a white ferret staring at him. _

"_Ryou? You need to wake up. Ryou?" _

_Ryou blinked and stared at the ferret before turning back to Bakura. He was now wearing a short plad skirt and had his hair up in a bun, still talking to the cat. He choked back a laugh before turning to the ferret again. (A.N. Sorry, I sooo couldn't help it. I had to put Bakura in a skirt somewhere in this story. Sorry!)_

"_Ryou, wake up! Ryou!"_

Ryou groaned and opened his eyes slowly, looking around for the source of the voice.

"Ryou? Oh, good, you're awake. You were talking in your sleep. Something about Bakura and ferrets?" Draco asked as he helped Ryou sit up.

"Mnmm, I was just having a…weird dream. Where am I?"

"You're in my bed, in the Slytherin dormitories. You didn't want to go to the infirmary, and I didn't dare bring you up to those stupid Gryffindors, so I brought you up here. You had quite the fever, so I didn't think you should be alone." Draco said, his cheeks tinted a tad pink with embarrassment.

"Oh, thanks, Draco. It really helped." Ryou said with a weak smile. "What time is it, by the way?"

"Oh, it's about 10: 30 AM. You slept all day yesterday and through the night last night. You kept getting worse, though."

Ryou looked at Draco's face and noticed that he had purple bags under his eyes, which meant he had stayed up all night taking care of him. Ryou instantly felt bad for making Draco have to stay up with him, and bowed his head.

"I'm sorry, Draco. You didn't get any sleep, did you? I'm sorry."

Draco looked at Ryou, confused. Nobody had ever felt _guilty_ for being sick. Not that he knew of, of course.

"Uh, it's okay, really." Draco said as he rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.

"Okay…wait, what day is it?" Ryou asked suddenly, his head shooting up so fast Draco heard a small 'crack.'

"Um, Monday. Why?"

"Oh! The trip to Hogsmead is tomorrow! I have to turn my form in!" Ryou tried to stand as he started panicking, but his dizziness prevented him from moving.

_**-Hikari, relax. We can take care of the stupid form later. Now rest!-**_

_-B-but…-_

_**-REST. NOW.-**_

Ryou whimpered and sat back down, putting his hands over his eyes to block out what light there was in the room.

"You do know that you turn the form in right before you leave to go to Hogsmead, right?"

Ryou uncovered his eyes and looked up at Draco, wincing a bit at the bright light.

"Really?"

"Yeah, so you don't have to freak out over it. Now get some sleep, you big idiot."

Draco pushed Ryou back onto the bed, forcing him to lay down and rest. Ryou just sighed and rolled over, slowly losing consciousness.

* * *

When Ryou awoke the next morning, it was a bit before dawn. He looked around and saw that Malfoy had fallen asleep on a chair with his head on his arms, laying on the bed. Ryou chuckled softly and got out of bed, feeling just a bit tipsy from his cold, and walked over to Draco, draping a warm blanket over his slim frame so that he would stay warm. He smiled softly before carefully tip toeing out of the room, and heading back to his own dormitory.

When he finally managed to reach Gryffindor tower, he was out of breath. He couldn't handle walking that far when he was still getting over a bad cold, but he forced himself to anyway. He walked into the common room quietly, noticing that nobody seemed to be awake yet. He walked carefully up to his room, and snuck in silently, making his way over to his bed. Sekhmet sat up and greeted him softly by pawing at his pajama pants, purring.

"Ryou? What are you doing?"

Ryou stopped and turned around slowly, and saw that the voice belonged to none other than Harry Potter. He blushed embarrassedly and looked around the room, trying to come up with an excuse for being so late.

"Um, well, I woke up too early, and decided to go for a walk."

"…in your pajamas?"

"…yes."

Harry just stared at Ryou, and could tell he was obviously lying, but decided against asking him for the truth. Whatever he had done, he didn't want people to know about, and he knew that feeling. He kept his mouth shut and shrugged, turning back to his book.

Ryou let out a soft sigh of relief as Harry turned around, seemingly accepting Ryou's excuse.

_-That was close…-_

_-__**He knows you're lying. I read his mind. Well, part of it.-**_

_-Yami! Don't do that!-_

_**-What? He didn't believe you, and I just wanted you to know, okay? Sheesh, don't freak out…-**_

Ryou sighed and walked over to his bed, opening his trunk and taking out some fresh clothes to change into. He picked out a white turtle neck with black pants, and a long grey trench coat. He made his way towards the bathroom to get ready just as some of the others were starting to wake up, Sekhmet following him as he left.

"Muhh, what's up with him?" Ron asked as he sat up, pointing his thumb in Ryou's direction.

"He was out all night. He just got back few minutes ago."

"Really? Where was he?"

"I dunno, he wouldn't tell me. I'm suspicious of him, though. He was all flushed and sweaty he came in."

"Oohhh, maybe he went to see a girl!"

For some reason, Harry had a very difficult time believing that. He just didn't get the 'I like girls' kind of vibe from Ryou.

"I don't think so, Ron. He went somewhere else."

"Where?" Ron asked as he pulled on his pants, grabbing his belt and socks.

"I don't know…" Harry pondered where Ryou could possibly have gone that made him return sweaty and out of breath. Maybe he really did just go for a walk. Or maybe it was raining monkeys.

About ten minutes later, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine met up with Ryou outside the front doors of the school, ready to go to Hogsmead. The three took note of the fact that Sekhmet, Ryou's pet tiger, had decided to join them on their trek to Hogsmead. She was wearing small boots to protect her feet from the cold, and had a small jacket on to keep her warm. How Ryou managed to find those kinds of things completely bewildered the three wizards. Ryou looked terribly excited, he was jumping up and down slightly, fidgeting a lot, and unbeknownst to the other three, severely pissing off a certain tomb robber.

_**-Chill out, hikari. It's not like we're going to the moon or something.-**_

_-No, but we are going to a magical village! I can't help it! It's the most exciting thing to happen all year!-_

_**-Whatever. Just don 't wet yourself because you got too excited.-**_

_-Yami!-_

Ryou could hear Bakura laughing from his soul room and rolled his eyes, handing his permission form to Filch before heading over to where the wizard trio was standing, Sekhmet following closely behind.

"You excited, Ryou?" Ron asked with a chuckle as Ryou skipped around, trying to calm down.

"Yes, very!"

The three wizards laughed at Ryou's antics and continued to walk. Once they reached Hogsmead, Ryou couldn't help but stare. There were so many things to see in the small village! He stared at the book shops, and picked Sekhmet up when they passed a menagerie so that she could say hi to the other animals on the other side of the glass.

They decided to get some butter beer at the pub before heading over to the Shrieking Shack, and also to warm up. Ryou stared at his butter bear apprehensively as Sekhmet lapped her milk happily. Harry seemed to notice his problem and chuckled, making him look up.

"Don't worry, Ryou, there's no alcohol in it. It's just to warm you up."

"Really…" Ryou said quietly before taking a small sip. His eyes widened and he stared at the drink, a smile spreading across his face.

"This is good!" He said before taking another sip of the orange drink.

The three chuckled at the albino as they continued to drink their butter beer.

After they had all gotten warmed up and were filled up, they went for a walk. They were chatting about school courses when something caught Sekhmet's attention.

"RYOUUUUU!!!!"

Ryou turned around just in time to see a purple blur flying straight at him. Said purple blur collided with Ryou head on, and they both fell to the ground.

"Oh my gosh, Ryou!! It's been ages!! I missed you~!"

Ryou looked up, rubbing his head, and saw none other than Malik sitting on top of his stomach, laughing happily. Harry, Ron , and Hermoine simply stared, completely confused as to why a strange girl just jumped on their friend. They were also very confused as to what the two were saying. It sounded like they were speaking a different language.

"Malik! What are you doing here? How'd you get here?"

Malik helped Ryou stand up, brushing him off and grabbing his hands.

"I'm here with Ishizu on museum business, and she had to come here for a meeting. What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Well, you're never gonna believe me, but I'm here because I'm attending a school for magic. It's quite interesting, really. Those three are my classmates." Ryou explained, pointing at the three very confused wizards.

Malik stared at the three for a minute, an intense look on his face as he mulled over what Ryou just said. The three wizards started fidgeting, feeling uncomfortable under the gaze of the tan Egyptian. He finally looked away, regaining his smile and squeezing Ryou's hands gently before knocking his forehead against the albino's.

"I believe you, Ryou. They have a faint magical aura coming from them. It's very faint, but I can feel it. Marik can too. Now, let's walk. You can show me around!" 

With that Malik wound his arm around Ryou's, walking away and motioning for Harry, Ron, and Hermoine to follow. They chatted a bit while the wizard trio discussed what had just happened.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked, staring at Malik's back in utter confusion.

"I have no idea, Ron, but it was weird. She must be one of Ryou's old friends from Japan or something. They were speaking Japanese." Hermoine answered, equally bewildered.

"Is that what it was? She sure doesn't look Japanese…she looks more Egyptian to me." Ron said, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb.

"Hey guys, do you feel like there's something…off about her? I feel like she's evil or something…I got the same vibe from Ryou when we first met him." Harry said as he stared at Malik's back, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Now that you say it, yeah, it does feel like there's just something…crazy…about her. I don't really know how to describe it, but it just feels…evil." Hermoine agreed, tilting her head to the side a bit as she looked on at the two.

"I guess we'll just have to find out why." Harry said, determined to find out what it was that made him feel like that.

…  
"Your buddies are talking about us. They think I'm evil. Boy, are they missing out…" Malik chuckled as he turned slightly to look at the three who didn't seem to notice him looking.

"I don't know, really. I've always felt that Harry doesn't like me, but the other two…I just don't know."

Once the five teens reached the village, they decided to go inside for another cup of butter beer to warm their bodies up from the harsh winds. Malik sat next to Ryou, smiling giddily, and motioned for the three British wizards to sit opposite them.

Once they were all seated and had their butter beer in hand, Malik put his hand out towards Harry, wanting to shake his hand.

"Nice to meet, you, I'm Malik. I'm Ryou's friend."

Harry noticed the thick Egyptian accent in Malik's speech, and shook his hand.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter. This is Ron Weasly and Hermoine Granger. We're also friends with Ryou."

"Yeah, Ryou told me about you. He said you're very nice. I can agree with him."

"Do you have a cold or something?" Ron asked bluntly.

"Why?" Malik asked quizzically.

"Your voice makes you sound like a guy or something."

Malik suddenly broke out into laughter, scaring the poor wizards. Even Ryou felt that he couldn't hold in a chuckle at Ron's confusion.

"My voice probably sounds like that because I'm a guy, Ron."

"YOU'RE A GUY?!" Ron all but shouted as Malik began to laugh again.

Even Harry and Hermoine looked surprised at the fact that the tall Egyptian was indeed a boy.

"Yep, and always have been! Well, since the last time I checked, that is."

This earned Malik a hit to the ribs from Ryou, who just shook his head, chuckling softly.

"So, uh, why are you here, anyway?" Harry asked, wanting to change the subject.

"My sister is here on business with the Ministry of Magic regarding some ancient artifacts that have been stored here. She wants to know if we can keep them in our museum." Malik stated professionally.

"You have a sister?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, her name is- ISHIZU!" Malik yelled.

Harry , Ron, and Hermoine turned to see a tall Egyptian woman with a gold necklace walking over to Malik.

"Hello, brother. Oh, hello Ryou! I didn't know you were staying here!"

"Nice to see you again, Ishizu. I'm actually here for school. This is Ron, Hermoine, and Harry." Ryou said politely, gesturing to the Golden Trio with his free hand.

"Ron? Ron Weasly?" Ishizu asked, giving Ron a curious look.

"Yeah, why?"

"Are you by any chance related to Bill Weasly?"

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"Yes, I've worked with him in Egypt at the Tomb sights. Ryou, I believe your father worked with him as well."

At that Ryou looked down at his lap, clenching his hands together. His father was a touchy subject.

"Huh, I never knew that." Ron replied, cocking his head to the side.

"Well, I'm afraid I must be off now. I have a meeting with the Minister in ten minutes and I don't want to be late. I will see you later, brother." With that Ishizu left, walking swiftly out the door.

"Bye sister!" Malik yelled, waving his arm around so much that Ryou had to duck in order to not be hit.

"Hey, Ryou, I have to talk to you about something. Come walk with me. See you all later!" Malik said as he pulled Ryou to his feet and walked out the door, leaving the three wizards blinking, stunned.

"What is it, Malik? Is something wrong?" Ryou asked worriedly.

"Have you noticed the aura that this place gives off? It's strange. I can't feel any shadow magic anywhere, except from you, me, and Ishizu. I don't like it."

"Yeah, I've noticed that too. It's really hard to do any kind of shadow magic. Bakura agrees."

"Maybe…maybe if we learned to harness this foreign magic we could strengthen our own. I don't know if it would work, but it could."

"Yeah, but it is rather hard to do this foreign magic because we're used to handling the Shadow Magic. I've already tried, but it's been rather tough. I can only manage to do basic spells, but I am able to do it."

"…yeah…Maybe…" Malik stared off with an intense look on his face for several minutes before snapping his fingers with an excited look.

"I've decided."

"Decided what?"

"I am going to become a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

* * *

Yaaayyy! I finished it!! Yeah, there's a plot twist~ You'll just have to wait for the next chapter to see what happens. But I can assure you, there will be chaos. Sorry it's late! And sorry if I got the whole tarot card thing wrong…I was just guessing and such. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Please Read and Review! I will send you a cookie!


	7. Chapter 7

Yay! New chapter!! Sorry it's late!!Don't hate me, please!! Just R&R!

* * *

Unusual Tactics

Later that afternoon Ryou and Malik headed up to the school, following the other wizards as they returned to Hogwarts. They were both jumpy, excited and anxious about Malik joining Hogwarts. He and Ryou were interlocking arms, earning several stares from the other students as they walked by. Sekhmet was trailing closely behind, trotting happily behind her owner.

"I can't believe you're joining Hogwarts, Malik! It'll be so nice to have an actual friend here."

"What do you mean, 'actual friend'? You don't have any friends here?" 

Ryou shook his head and looked at the ground, his smile disappearing.

"Not really. I am friends with Neville and Luna, but other than that, I don't really have any friends. They all think I'm a freak."

"And why is that?"

Ryou simply pointed to his hair with a false smile on his face, his eyes showing sadness deep in those chocolate pools. Malik sighed before ruffling Ryou's hair, smiling gently at his albino friend. Ryou giggled and pushed against Malik, who returned the gesture, making them both laugh as they struggled to walk while pushing their hips against each other's.

A bit back in the crowd, Ron, Hermoine, and Harry were watching the two with odd looks on their faces.

"They're right weird, they are." Ron said, raising an eyebrow at the two's antics.

"I have to agree with you on that, Ron. They are weird." Harry shook his head, running his fingers through his mop of black hair.

" Don't judge them, you two. They're best friends and they haven't seen each other in a while, so of course they're going to act a bit odd. Though I do have to admit, they are a bit…funny to watch." Hermoine said, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried to stifle giggles.

As they reached the castle, Ryou and Malik were still linking arms, earning several stares from the students and the teachers. Not only because they were both boys, but because Malik wasn't a student there. Dumbledore had noticed this and sent Snape over to meet the two.

"And who might this be, Mister Bakura?" Snape asked, sneering down at Malik.

"This is my friend Malik Ishtar, Professor Snape."

Malik looked up at Snape and stared for a few seconds, turning the situation into a semi glaring contest.

"Wow, look at that honker! He must've had a bad childhood."

Snape had no idea what Malik had just said, but at Ryou's attempt to stifle his giggles, he knew it was something along the lines of an insult. He raised his head and started walking, motioning for the two to follow. When he heard laughter from the students on both sides, he turned around to see Malik with his nose in the air, his arms out dramatically behind him, wearing Ryou's cloak and letting it flow out behind him as he walked. He didn't even attempt to stop when Snape saw him.

'_Another troublemaker. Delightful.'_

Snape just scowled and continued walking in the direction of Dumbledore's office, Malik and Ryou following closely behind.

"So what do you think Professor Dumblies wants to see us for?"

Ryou chuckled a bit and shook his head, not helping himself but laugh at how badly Malik butchered the Headmaster's name.

"Dumbledore, Malik. And I'm not quite sure what he wants to see us about."

Ryou suddenly stared off into space, almost running into a wall, and Malik deduced that he and Bakura must have been discussing the current situation.

_**-He probably wants to discuss the fact that Malik's here. Or he just wants to interrogate us.-**_

_-Bakura! He's not going to interrogate us! He most likely just wants to talk.-_

_**-…Or interrogate us…-**_

_-Bakura…-_

_**-Well, haven't you noticed how suspicious he is of us? He's always watching us, whether through teachers, ghosts, paintings, or just watching us himself! I swear he knows something's off about us…-**_

_-…well, you could be right, but for now, let's just let it go. If he does seem suspicious of us, I can always discuss things with him.-_

_**-Or maybe I could do the 'discussing'…-**_

_-Bakura!!-_

Ryou finally snapped out of his 'daydream,' and Malik laughed at the pout on his face. He couldn't help it. Ryou was just so dang adorable when he pouted!

"You're soooo cute when you do that!!"

"Do what?"

"Your pouty face!!"

Malik giggled and glomped Ryou, rubbing his nose into the albino boy's hair. Ryou blushed heavily in embarrassment and tried to pry the still giggling Malik off him, but failed.

Snape turned to see what the two foreign boys were up to and rolled his eyes. He already had to deal with enough teenage idiots. He didn't need another joining his list of people to torture because they annoyed him.

When they finally reached the stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office, Ryou had officially given up on trying to pry Malik off him, and just let him hang there. Malik was ecstatic, finally able to get the chance to smell Ryou's beautiful hair. He'd always known it smelled good, but this was something else. It smelled like mango smoothies and waterfalls and-

"Malik. We're here. You can let go now."

Malik looked up and noticed they were in Dumbledore's office. How he hadn't noticed them going in was a mystery.

"Mister Ishtar, I presume?"

Malik nodded without letting go of Ryou, vaguely understanding what the elderly wizard had said.

"And why are you here, Mister Ishtar?"

Dumbledore propped his elbows up on the desk, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on his hands, waiting for Malik to answer.

Malik conversed with Ryou for a second before nodding, laying his head back down on the whitenette's shoulder.

"He said he came here because he wants to learn magic. He can use it, like I can, but it's a different magic. He wants to learn to use this kind."

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, thinking over what Ryou had said.

"Different magic, you say? What kind of magic is it, then?"

Ryou seemed to space out, his eyes clouding over, then snapping back into focus. They seemed a bit…redder than before, however. His entire demeanor appeared to have shifted, becoming darker, almost.

"It's a very old magic, that originated in Egypt. It's far stronger than the petty magic that's taught here, and can easily trump a fully grown wizard, if used correctly."

Dumbledore nodded, noting the slight change in Ryou's voice.

"What is this foreign magic called, Mister Bakura?"

"Shadow Magic. Only a few people throughout the world are able to use it. It can't be taught or learned. It can't be acquired or obtained. It is designated to work only with those who are compatible from before birth. Those who can use shadow magic are born with the ability. Malik and I are two of the very few who are naturally compatible with the shadows."

Dumbledore nodded, a serious expression on his face. He knew the foreigners were a tad…off in their magical aura, but he didn't think it would be this drastic a difference. To be able to use a different magic all together…and one far stronger than normal wizarding magic…He'd have to keep an eye on those two.

"I see then. I've made my decision. Malik Ishtar, welcome to Hogwarts."

* * *

"I can't believe I'm going to a magic school!! And I can speak English,too!"

Malik jumped up and down in the Gryffindor common room, ecstatic that he would be able to go to a wizarding school with his best friend. He was also pretty happy that he could speak English, thanks to a linguistics spell, but the heavy Egyptian accent stuck.

Ryou giggled, watching his best friend as he ran all around the room, inspecting magical items, scanning books, and sometimes poking other Gryffindors. He looked just like an excited puppy in a new home.

_**-Careful he doesn't wet himself. We'd have to tell Ishizu that her years of housebreaking failed.-**_

Ryou couldn't help but laugh at Bakura's sarcastic remark. Malik heard Ryou's amusement and ran up to him, still bouncing on the pads of his feet.

"What is it?"

Ryou covered his mouth with his hand, desperately trying not to laugh. Bakura wasn't helping either- he was barking like a hyper dog in his soul room, obviously mocking the poor oblivious blond.

"N-nothing, Malik."

Malik narrowed his eyes, knowing something was up. He lowered his hand to the Rod resting in one of his belt loops. His eyes clouded for a second before he turned beet red.

"HEY!!"

Ryou broke out laughing as Malik began his lovely rainbow of curses, ranging from English to Arabic.

Over on the other side of the room, Ron, Hermoine, and Harry were watching with amused expressions at the two's antics.

"That's the happiest that I've ever seen Ryou. It's also the first time I've heard him laugh, too. It's rather cute…" Hermoine said, chuckling behind her hand.

"I wonder what they're going on about." Ron stated rather than asked, smiling amusedly.

"No idea, but it is kinda nice that Ryou doesn't seem so, well, depressed."

Harry continued to stare at them, eyeing the golden object hanging from Malik's belt loop. He had touched it when he had his outburst, and it looked as if he had been thinking hard, as if trying to remember something.

'_I wonder what it is…maybe I should ask him…no, he'd get suspicious…'_

"Hey, Malik!"

Harry snapped back to reality to see Ron walking over to the Egyptian, a curious look on his face.

'_Oh, no…he isn't going to-'_

"What's that thing on your belt?"

*HARRY FACEPALM PLZ*

"Hm? Oh, it's my Rod."

Hermoine, who wasn't paying any attention until just then, blushed furiously and spun around in her chair, staring at Malik with wide eyes. (Yep, 'Moine's a Malik fangirl. Or she's a yaoi fangirl and just interpreted that like…the rest of us would have. X3)

"Your Rod?"

Ron tilted his head to the side, unknowingly making himself look simply adorable, at least in Malik's eyes. His outside appearance was calm and collected, but inside, he was squealing like a fangirl on crack.

"Mhmm~ I use it to channel my magic." (Interpret that however you want.)

"Oh. Is it heavy? It looks like it's made of gold…"

Malik pulled the item out of his belt, twirling it around in his hand.

"It's not really that heavy, but yeah, it's made of gold. It's magical or something, though, so it's not as heavy as it should be." *

"Oh. Can I see it?"

Malik forced a smile, pulling the rod back and putting back into his belt, keeping one hand on the top.

"No, sorry. It's a bit choosey about who can hold it."

Just then, Malik's stomach grumbled rather loudly, eliciting stifled giggles coming from Ryou. Malik blushed furiously, embarrassed, and hit Ryou lightly across the head, pouting.

"Hungry, Ishtar?" Bakura said amusedly, pushing Ryou back into his soul room so he could control his laughter.

"…A little…" Malik mumbled, still pouting.

"It is time for dinner, so how about we head down and get something to eat?" Hermoine suggested, putting her study material away.

"Really?! Yay!!" Malik all but squealed, grabbing Bakura's arm and running out of the common room.

"I think we should follow them so they don't get lost." Harry said, chuckling at how excited Malik was to get food. In his mind, though, Harry was mulling over the fact that, just a second ago, Ryou had…changed, somehow. His eyes were darker, almost red, and even his hair seemed pointier. He also seemed to be darker, in a way. Harry pushed the thought to the back of his mind, however, when Ron tugged on his sleeve to get him moving.

'_I will figure this out…I hope.'_

_

* * *

  
_

Sorry it's so late, guys!! I had a huge spot of writer's block, and I just didn't know what to write! But it's here now! YAY!! Please don't hate me!

*-Think about it- if the items were really made of solid gold, and had no magical charm to make them light-weight, they would weigh over 100 pounds apiece! D8

I'll try to update soon!!


	8. Chapter 8

FINALLY!! A NEW CHAPTER!!

Gosh, I am soooo sorry I've been gone for so long, guys!! I've been super busy and haven't had the time or patience to update at all. I really appreciate all those wonderful people who actually took the time to read this piece of shit that is my story. And you seem to like it, too…odd…are you all on crack or something while you read this?

Anywho, on with the story!

DISCLAIMERS: You know the deal. I don't own anything, blah blah blah.

After they had all had a hearty dinner (Malik in awe of the magical plates every so often), they all opted to walk around for a bit and show Malik around the castle grounds.

After walking through the many vast halls of the old castle, the odd group headed out towards the large lake, seeing as it wasn't dark yet and they had some time.

Ryou shuddered a bit, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to raise the feeble temperature in his frozen digits. Sekhmet had run off with his only pair of mittens, so he was out of luck so far as keeping his hands warm. Malik noticed this and took both of Ryou's hands in his.

"Malik, there's no need for that, I'll be fine!" Ryou stuttered, feeling his rosy cheeks warming up with his steadily growing blush.

"Don't be silly, Ryou. You're hands are as cold as ice! Just let me warm them up with a bit of my good old Egyptian body heat." Malik chuckled, raising his hands, along with Ryou's, up to his mouth and blowing a steady stream of hot, moist air on their cold hands.

Ryou shivered at the sudden warmth, but didn't pull his hands away. Malik was right- this was warming him up, and not just his hands, too.

Up ahead, Hermione turned just in time to see Malik warming Ryou's hands. She felt a small twinge in her chest at the sight and blinked, looking away.

'_What is this? I can't be…jealous, that's silly! He's just warming up Ryou's hands! That's it. Nothing more. Why would I care, anyway? …do I care?'_

After a bit more of walking around the grounds (by that time Malik had convinced Ryou to hold hands with him), they went inside to warm up.

"Gosh, I really hate snow. Damn frozen water –ACHOO!! Geh…" Malik sniffed as he sat down, Ryou eying him with a pitying glance and handing him a tissue.

"That's what you get when you roll around in the snow without a hat on. And I thought you said you loved snow? Change your mind?"

Malik glared at him pitifully, sniffing occasionally and sneezing more often then not. Ryou, deciding he had had enough of Malik's incessant sneezing, stepped out to visit Madam Pomphrey for a remedy for the nasty cold the Egyptian had acquired.

After Ryou had left, Hermione went over and sat next to Malik on the floor, patting him on the head sympathetically.

"Sorry you got ill, Malik. We shouldn't have stayed out that long, knowing you weren't used to the cold weather."

Malik sniffed, making a funny face while trying to hold back a sneeze, and shook his head.

"Ish okay. It wasnd your fault. I should've down that I would get shick frobm stayidng out id the cold for so log."

Hermione giggled at how funny the Egyptian sounded through his stuffy nose.

Over at the table across the room, Ron turned to see who had made Hermione laugh and wrinkled his nose slightly when he saw it was Malik. He wasn't going to deny it- He was jealous of the Egyptian. Hermione seemed to be taking a liking to the boy, and Ron didn't like that at all.

"Stupid Malik…making Hermione laugh…" Ron mumbled under his breath, but just loud enough for someone to hear.

Harry looked up from his homework and blinded at Ron over his glasses. He had never seen the redhead this jealous before.

"What's wrong, Ron? Jealous of Malik? Hermione seems to like him." Harry said with a teasing smile on his face.

Ron shot him a glare and growled a bit under his breath, crossing his arms and pouting at how true Harry's comment was.

Just then, the portrait opened to reveal a very disheveled looking Ryou, holding a vile in his hands and panting heavily.

"S-sorry I t-took so long. Ther-re was an a-accident in the i-infirmary." Ryou huffed, leaning over and balancing himself, hands resting on his knees, the vile held by his pinky.

"Whad happedned?" Malik asked, standing up quickly and regretting it with a groan, swaying slightly as the pressure of his headache caught up with him.

"Malik, sit! You can't be up and about when you're this sick! Now sit." Hermione ordered, pushing Malik down onto the couch by his shoulders.

Malik sat, unwillingly, and stared up at Hermione in a kind of awe. He had never met a girl who was able to do that to him.

Ryou was surprised as well. He had never seen anyone push Malik around like that, sick or not.

"Now, what happened, Ryou? Did someone attack you or something?" Hermione asked, turning to face the trembling Brit.

"Oh! Um, yes, something _did_ happen, but…umm…I…Malik?" Ryou stepped aside to reveal a very young looking replica of Malik, sucking his thumb and holding onto Ryou's pant leg.

"…" Malik gaped at the toddler, unable to speak for a minute before slowly crawling over to the youngster.

"…Marik?"

The toddler tilted his head to the side, thumb still in his mouth, but nodded. Malik sat down on the floor, releasing a breath that he didn't know he was holding.

"I cad't believe id…budt how?" Malik looked up at Ryou, who shook his head, confused.

"I don't know, really. I was on my way back up here to give you this cold curing potion- here you go, by the way-"

"Thanks."

"-when all of a sudden he just pops out of nowhere and jumps on me! He was crying hard, the poor dear, something scared him, so I just brought him back here. I felt a disturbance in the…you know…and thought maybe something had happened to you."

Malik took the small vile of the potion and shivered as he suddenly felt warm again. Shaking his head gently, he stood up and faced Ryou, an equally puzzled look on his face.

"I didn't feel anything, really. It might've been because my head was full of snot, though."

Ryou couldn't help but smile as Marik giggled, burying his face into Ryou's pant leg.

"What's so funny?" Malik asked, smiling as well.

"Heehee, you said snot!" Marik giggled, once again burying his face into Ryou's leg.

Ryou smiled softly and picked Marik up, balancing the young boy on his hip.

"How old do you think he is? He doesn't look any older than five or six." Ryou said, poking Marik's button nose and making him giggle.

"Dunno. This is really weird, though. How the hell did he get here in the first place?" Malik asked, ruffling Marik's hair with his free hand.

"I'm not sure. I guess we should check around the grounds to see if we can find any traces of Shadow Magic." Ryou suggested, smiling as Marik played with his hair, seemingly enthralled with the mess of white in his hands.

"Good idea. Hey, why don't we ask Bakura if he knows?"

"I guess so. He's been awfully quiet since I went to the infirmary. He hasn't said a single word the whole time. It's kind of…creepy." Ryou shuddered at the thought of something happening to Bakura.

"You don't think…the same thing happened to him, do you?" Malik asked, slightly worried for the albino spirit.

"Oh, dear, I hope not! I hope he's okay…" Ryou mumbled the last part, eyebrows furrowed with worry.

Marik, as if sensing Ryou's worry, gripped the pale boy's face in his tiny hands and forced Ryou to turn his head towards the toddler. Marik put on his most serious expression, looking rather put out more than stern, and looked Ryou in the eyes.

"Don' worry bout him. He will be fine." Ryou was surprised at Marik's seriousness, obviously not expecting the toddler to be able to express such an emotion.

"If you say so…Let's go look for him in the morning, though. I don't want him to get lost if he has had something done to him." Ryou sighed and sat on the couch next to Hermione, holding Marik close and closing his eyes slowly, exhaustion slowly creeping into his consciousness.

Malik, also feeling quite tired after his bout of sickness, yawned loudly and stood up.

"Well, I guess I'll be heading off to bed now. You coming, Ry?"

Ryou blinked and shook his head as if to clear his brain of the sleepiness slowly overcoming him.

"Mmm." He mumbled, rising off the couch, Marik already asleep in his arms, and followed Malik up the stairs, both boys wishing the three wizards goodnight.

"I do hope that Bakura fellow is okay, whoever he is…" Hermione wondered, concern lacing her voice. Ron placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave her a quick smile before yawning.

"I think those blokes have the right idea. I'm beat. I'm heading off to bed. Night, 'Mione, night Harry."

"Night, Ron." Hermione and Harry answered in unison.

After a moment of silence, Hermione bid her leave and went off to bed, leaving Harry to his thoughts.

'_Weird things keep happening around those two. I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to find out…'_

Wow, short chapter. I hope it was good, though. I couldn't update soon enough because my dad's computer, the one with the story on it, was taken into the shop for repairs, so I couldn't finish the chapter. Sorry! Reviews are wonderful, please. They'll help me update sooner. :3


	9. Chapter 9

Newwww chapterrrr after so lonngggg I totally forgot what I wrotteeee ahhhhhhhhh but anyway, I finally decided to update, after a rather lengthy period of procrastination. I have a new muse now, so I guess I'm just pumped enough to finally write. Hope you guys don't hate me for not updating!

Harry dragged himself out of bed the next morning, awakened by the sound of squealing from down in the common room. Yawning, he made his way toward the door, seeing Ron was already up as he walked past his bed. As soon as he opened the door, the muffled squealing sound was amplified, much to Harry's annoyance.

"Marik, you ass, get back here with my eyeliner!"

Harry raised an eyebrow and walked down the stairs. That hadn't sounded like a girl's voice.

"Marik come back here! You little shit! I'm gonna kill you!"

As Harry entered the common room he was greeted with the sight of Malik, rather ruffled and lacking his usual eyeliner, chasing a hyper Marik (still in toddler form) around the common room. He walked over to where Ryou was sitting, looking rather calm and reading a book.

"Um, morning Bakura. What's-"

"Marik stole Malik's eyeliner. This happens a lot." Ryou calmly turned a page, not even bothering to look at Harry as he spoke.

"Oh. Are they going to be doing this much longer? It's giving me a headache." Harry complained, rubbing his head in little circles, as if it could ease the throbbing pain in his temple in any way.

Ryou sighed and put his book aside, standing up. He walked around the couch and planted his hands on his hips, a stern look on his face.

"Marik Ishtar, you get over here right now and GIVE ME THAT EYELINER." Ryou commanded loudly, causing Marik and Malik to freeze. Marik trotted over to the angry whitenette and handed him the eyeliner, a sheepish look on his face.

"Sowwy…" Marik sniffled a bit, tears in his big lavender eyes.

Ryou saw right through his act, however, and gave the little Egyptian a quick swat to the behind. He walked over to Malik and returned the eyeliner before going back to his previous place on the couch, resuming reading his book. Marik sat beside him, his own little book, one that Ryou had picked out for him to read earlier that morning, in his little hands.

Twenty or so minutes later (once Malik was finally finished getting ready), they all headed down to breakfast. Marik sat next to Ryou, seeing as Malik would indeed be no help to the small Egyptian's manners at the table. Malik had almost worse table manners than Bakura.

At the thought of the white haired yami, Ryou's heart gave a little skip. He was awfully worried about Bakura, not knowing if he was safe or hurt. Marik seemed to sense the boy's worry and placed a small hand on the pale boy's arm in a small gesture of comfort. Ryou couldn't help but smile and mouth a silent thanks to the tiny yami, feeling a little more reassured at the fact that Marik knew that Bakura was okay. That didn't mean Ryou wasn't worried any less, though.

After breakfast they all had to head off to classes, Hermione and Harry choosing to run off ahead, saying they needed to visit the library before class started. Ron offered to take Marik to Hagrid, seeing as the giant was being kind enough to offer to take care of the yami for the day while Ryou and Malik were in class.

During their lunch break, Ryou went down to Hagrid's to retrieve Marik. He wanted to see if the small Egyptian could possibly help him locate Bakura. Marik agreed and they set off to search the grounds for the missing white haired yami.

After about ten minutes, Ryou felt a tug on the Millennium Ring from under his shirt. His heart skipped a beat and he scooped Marik into his arms, setting off running in the direction the ring was pointing.

'_Oh, Bakura, please please be safe…please be okay…Oh, Bakura…'_

Ryou's heart rate increased as the tug became stronger. Soon they rounded a corner and were almost in the Forbidden Forest when they came upon a small bundle by a large tree. Ryou set Marik down and walked over to the tree slowly, his heart still pounding nervously.

He knelt down, reaching slowly for the bundle, hands shaking with trepidation. The bundle moved suddenly, making Ryou retract his hands quickly, but slowly, ever so slowly, he reached for the small lump of cloth once again.

"Mmmmnm…whuua?" The bundle mumbled, slowly unwrapping itself to reveal a small boy with a shock of white hair. It was Bakura.

Ryou's heart almost stopped. He couldn't breathe. Then, all at once, relief, happiness, and slight worry all crashed down at once, overwhelming him with emotion. Tears stung at his eyes as he reached for the small yami.

"Bakura…you're okay! Oh, thank God!" Ryou pulled the confused yami to his chest, holding him in a tight hug, but being careful not to squash the boy.

"What-who-Hikari? What the hell? Why am I so…tiny?" Bakura shrieked, pushing Ryou back so he could get a good look at himself.

Ryou laughed, tears running down his face. He swiped at his eyes, trying to rid his vision of the blurring tears.

"I don't know, Bakura. The same thing happened to Marik. I'm just bloody glad you're okay!"

Ryou hugged Bakura again, this time the yami letting him.

"Wait, Marik's like this, too?"

"Mhmm! I'm all tiny, Kura! Lookit me!" Marik squealed, jumping at Bakura and Ryou, trying to wrap his tiny arms around Ryou's body, wanting to hug them both and failing.

Ryou laughed and opened his arms, letting Marik join them, much to Bakura's dismay.

"Nooo! Hikariii! Get him offff!" Bakura whined, trying to shove the tiny Egyptian off him, seeing as he was trying to kiss the white haired yami, giggling and squirming.

"Kura Kura Kuraaaa!" Marik sang, giggling and trying to plant more little kisses on the poor white haired boy.

Ryou laughed and stood up, taking Bakura and Marik with him, and started walking towards the castle.

Ryou returned to the lunch hall not ten minutes later and was greeted by the sight of Malik and Ron playing a game of 'Who can eat all the food on his plate faster?'. He took a seat by Hermione, setting Marik down next to him but keeping Bakura in his lap, arms around the smaller's waist.

"Oh, Ryou! You found Bakura!" Hermione squealed, finally getting a good look at Bakura.

At the witch's outburst, Malik nearly choked on the food he was trying to swallow, whipping his head around to see if it was true.

"Mphapurfah!" Malik exclaimed, little bits of food flying out of his mouth.

"Ew." Bakura said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"I agree with Bakura, Malik. That's disgusting." Ryou said, mirroring Bakura's face.

Malik chewed quickly and swallowed hard, desperately trying to rid his mouth of the food so he could talk again.

"You found Bakura! He's tiny too! Hahahhahaha!" Malik held his stomach as he laughed, tears forming in his eyes and his cheeks stained pink from the force of his laughter.

"Shaddup, Malik! Stupid head!" Bakura pouted, burrowing his face in Ryou's shirt to hide his embarrassment.

"Malik, don't laugh at him! Would you like it if you were laughed at for your body being shrunken mysteriously?" Ryou fumed, planting a small kiss atop Bakura's head to calm him down.

Malik's laughs died down to chuckling, still whipping tears from his eyes and holding his stomach.

"S-sorry, Ryou, but that's just too funny. I'll try not to laugh, kay?"

Ryou could hear small stifled giggles next to him and turned to see Marik with a dinner roll stuffed in his mouth to hide his laughter.

"Don't you laugh either, Marik. This happened to you, too, after all." Ryou said, a stern look on his face.

Bakura turned his head from Ryou's chest to stick his tongue out at Marik and blow raspberries, a put out look on his face.

Ryou smiled to himself, not able to help thinking Bakura was rather adorable in his current state. He squeezed the small yami tighter, planting little kisses in his hair, much to the small boy's confusion.

Harry returned at that moment, sitting down beside Malik and filling his plate with lunch items. He had just had a rather tough study session with professor McGonagall and was worn out. He started eating before noticing that everyone was focusing their attention on something across the table. Harry looked up to see Ryou kissing the top of what looked like a small child's head.

"Who's Ryou holding?" Harry asked Malik, prodding the Egyptian with his fork to get his attention.

"Hmm? Oh, that's Bakura. We finally found him! Well, Ryou did, anyway." Malik exclaimed, returning his attention to the small yami.

'_So that' s Bakura. I don't get a good feeling from him either. In fact, he's possibly worse than any of them…I'll have to keep a close eye on them…especially him.' _Harry thought to himself, not taking his eyes off the small white haired yami, a bad feeling in his gut, making his scar burn. Things just kept on getting worse, and he had a feeling that they wouldn't stop very soon…

Well, finally finished that chapter! It's kinda short, but it's better than nothing. Hope you guys like it!

Thank you everyone, also, who reviewed my story or chose to follow it! It really means a lot, even if I'm a jerk for not updating. I'm sorry. :( I will try to update more, though, now that my muse is inspiring me nonstop now!

Please review! 8D


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